Didn’t get a flu shot?

You probably still want to get one — unless you’re among the thousands who have already been hammered by one of the three strains against which this year’s shot is intended to protect.

We’re at the height of the flu season with the Center for Disease Control’s most recent map listing Florida at the top of the “high” tier for flu activity and Lee Health reporting an uptick in influenza and respiratory illness cases as the new year opened.

According to the most recent data, from Jan. 11 to Jan. 17, Lee Health Ambulatory reported 432 positive specimens: 348 influenza A and 84 influenza B. Acute care reported 237 positives: 217 influenza A and 20 influenza B. These numbers are down a tad both from December and this time last year but the general peak for the viral illness continues through February.

However, Lee Health officials warn that since last summer, a newer version of the flu virus, one that causes a more serious illness than the just-feel-miserable flu most of us have encountered at one time or another.

This season’s stats thus far?

In its most recent update on Jan. 16, the CDC estimated in its “FluView” report that there had been “at least 18 million illnesses, 230,000 hospitalizations, and 9,300 deaths from flu so far this season.”

Among the reported deaths, 32 were children.

“At this point in the season, the pediatric age group is classified as having high severity, while both the adult and older adult age groups are classified as having moderate severity,” the CDC reported this week.

Florida teeters at the top of the CDC’s “high” tier of reported cases as of Jan. 18 with most of the country’s southeast in the “very high” range. The most recent report posted to FloridaHealth.gov for the period from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 shows increases in both positive — ie. confirmed — cases of flu and well as ER visits for flu-like symptoms statewide.

Some good news?

According to Florida Health’s Florida Flu Review, there has been a leveling off of cases statewide.

And the flu, a viral illness, is for many relatively mild.

But for those at risk — those 65 and older, those with existing medical conditions, children 5 and younger, pregnant women and those who have recently given birth — the flu can be deadly.

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has the flu vaccine available by appointment. Call (239) 461-6100.

Flu shots and other vaccines are, of course, also available at a number of private providers, from your doctor’s office to local pharmacies.

We add our voices to those within the health care community urging flu shots this year and every year for, well, everyone.

The last thing anyone needs is an illness as unpleasant as flu, especially when a vaccine is readily available.

Breeze editorial